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Finale Percussion font

The Finale Percussion font includes icons to represent a wide variety of percussion instruments, mallets, techniques, and unique notations. These pictograms, developed in 1974 by a conference of more than eighty musicians representing seventeen countries, are favored by publishers like Southern, TRN, and others because they allow for immediate recognition across language barriers. Some pictograms, such as castanets, vibraslap, and cannon, are unique to the Finale Percussion font, and in some cases alternate versions are provided.

Characters marked with a dagger (†) "dovetail" when they are repeated; for example, repeating the character (SHIFT + 9) results in a continuous .

Keystroke Character Description With SHIFT Character Description With OPTION Character Description With OPTION+SHIFT Character Description
1 swing down (handbells) ! gyro (handbells), scrape around rim   narrow wavy line segment†      
2 swing up (handbells) @ pluck lift (handbells)   sawtooth line segment†      
3 damp (handbells) # damp, alternate (handbells)   wide wavy line segment†      
4 martellato (handbells) $ swing (handbells)   wide sawtooth line segment†      
5 muted martellato (handbells) % table single handbell            
6 hand martellato (handbells) ^ N/A N/A   narrow wavy line segment†      
7 martellato lift (handbells) & table pair of handbells   quasi-random squiggle, alternate†      
8 mallet, bell on table (handbells) * N/A N/A   quasi-random squiggle†      
9 mallet lift (handbells) ( constant circular motion segment†   Vietnamese hat cymbal      
0 echo (handbells) ) constant circular motion segment (large)†   finger cymbals      
; hand : fingernail   sistrum   vibraslap
a bass drum, soft mallet A tam-tam   wind chimes   temple blocks
b guiro scraper B cowbell            
c metal hammer C guiro   anvil   suspended cymbal
d bass drum, hard mallet D cabasa         maracas
e timpani, hard mallet E tenor drum         crotales
f bass drum, double mallet F maracas   slide whistle   goblet drum (djembe, doumbek)
g snare sticks G glockenspiel   siren      
h jazz sticks (plastic tip snare sticks) H vibraphone         cannon
i hard sticks (wood or plastic heads) or xylophone, wood mallet I bass drum (on side)         conga
j brass mallet J xylophone         log drum
k rawhide hammer K marimba            
l triangle beater L pitched mallet instrument   ratchet   wind machine
m bow M board clapper (whip or slapstick)         tubular bells
n spoon-shaped wooden mallet N sizzle cymbal         gong with button (nipple)
o yarn, soft beater O tambourine   gong   brake drum
p yarn, medium beater P timpani            
q timpani, soft mallet Q snare drum (snares off)   timbales   thunder sheet
r timpani, wood mallet R field drum (or military drum) with snares on   bongo   car horn
s bass drum, medium mallet (or chimes mallet) S wood block   bell   sandpaper blocks
t xylophone, soft mallet T crash cymbals   gunshot      
u xylophone, hard mallet U bass drum         police whistle
v wire brushes V hi-hat            
w timpani, medium mallet W snare drum         lion's roar
x rim shot X sleigh bells            
y xylophone, medium mallet Y triangle   almglocken   castanets
z knitting needle Z claves         tom-tom
[ yarn, hard beater { N/A N/A   bell plate   cymbal tongs
] finger } N/A N/A   hammer   duck call
\ fist | N/A N/A   slit drum      
=   + mallet bell suspended (handbells), rim shot            
-   _ drumstick (for cymbal strike location)   constant circular motion segment (flipped)†   constant circular motion segment (flipped, large)†
, at center (Ghent) < at center         klaxon horn
. right hand (Agostini) > at normal position            
/ at rim (Ghent) ? at rim   hi-hat cymbals on stand   wind whistle (or mouth siren)
` flexatone ~ N/A N/A            
' N/A N/A " N/A N/A   chimes   bird whistle

 

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